Atramentous Detritus Mini-Session 1
The first mini-session of Atramentous Detritus Preceded by Atramentous Detritus Session 2 After returning to the Red Rake the party rests for the evening. However, remembering a command given to him by an angel of Vecna to "Seek the way of shadow", Claudiu Ionel is restless and sneaks off into the city. He finds a nearby tavern, asks the bartender where he might be able to study shadow magic, and bribes him to keep quiet about his questioning. Claudiu finds his way to the Tenebrous Cabal, which appears as a plain warehouse, knocks on the door and is led inside by Shadar-kai up to the tower-study of the head wizard of the cabal, Teliko. He agrees that he will train Claudiu in the way of shadow if he is able to return a gem-encrusted skull that was taken to a mausoleum in the Graveyard. Claudiu finds the mausoleum and knocks on the door, but there is no response. As he sneaks inside he hears screams coming from a room on his left and deciding that nothing pleasant lies behind that door, heads into the opposite room. Investigating further, Claudiu finds a map with ten "X"s on it and copies the marks onto a piece of scrap parchment, in the same room he discovers a staircase hidden under a stuffed troll. At the bottom of the stairs Claudiu finds the skull in a room with a magical searchlight. He turns into a bat, is able to disable to light, retrieves the skull, and replaces the light. Claudiu heads back upstairs and puts the troll back into position to cover the stairs. Investigating more, Claudiu steals a tome on necromancy from the sitting room, and finds a patch of mysterious stonework on the ceiling of the trophy room. Believing this to be his chance to contact the gang of Vecnites, Claudiu comes up with a plan. He quickly leaves the crypt and buries the skull in the ground, he then returns to explore further. In one room he finds two bound and gagged prisoners. Upon removing the gag from one of the prisoners, he spits in Claudiu's face and insults him, so Claudiu returns the gag to the man and leaves the man to his fate. Hearing someone approach, Claudiu ducks into a side room where he finds an empty open coffin. From there he brazenly enters the room from which he has heard screaming and moans of suffering. The room has a long dining table on which lay the eviscerated bodies of ten people. Three vampires are working to construct two blasphemes out of the organs of the corpses. Claudiu bravely asserts that he believes them fools as he was able to single-handedly infiltrate the mausoleum and steal the skull under their very noses. Claudiu states that he wants to join forces with them, but the gang rejects his offer and attempts to fight. Seeing that he is outnumbered, Claudiu retreats, and retrieving the skull from its hiding place, returns to the Tenebrous Cabal. When he presents it, Teliko shows him a ritual which allows one to experience the last moments before a person's death from their perspective. Using this on the gem-encrusted skull, Claudiu experiences the death of a man who was drowned in the harbor for murder. On his way back to the Red Rake, Claudiu stops to thank the bartender who helped him earlier that night. He gives him an extra gold piece with the trust that if he ever needs more information, or if the bartender can point him in the direction of someone who knows everything, that it would be much appreciated. He then turns into a bat, flies back into his bedroom, and arrives just as the rest of his party is waking up. Followed by Atramentous Detritus Session 3 Recording *Part 1 - Claudiu goes on an adventure of his own.